Philippines thanks foreign donors for typhoon victims

The Philippines expressed gratitude for foreign countries which had offered donations for victims of typhoon "Haiyan" or locally known as Yolanda, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said here Wednesday. The country has received assistance from 36 countries and international organizations with a total value of 89.5 million U.S. dollars (3.83 billion pesos), the DFA said in a statement issued Wednesday. "We would like to convey the sincerest gratitude to our international partners and kababayans abroad for their generous and swift response in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda," said DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez. This figure accounts only for cash donation pledges and in-kind donations to which monetary valuation had been assigned by the donors. Most of the international assistance, either in monetary form or in-kind donations, does not go through the Philippine government. The DFA, as the first point of contact for the international community, is notified of pledges of international assistance, and then will pass on the information to the country's disaster relief council and other agencies, the DFA said. President Benigno Aquino III has also thanked, in a statement released Wednesday, everyone including Filipinos both in the country and abroad who had donated their time, efforts, technical and financial services and other form of assistance following the typhoon. "Haiyan", as the strongest typhoon ever hit the Philippines, has claimed 2,344 lives as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, with 79 others remain missing.